Mayfair Advisory Group LLC Sells 30 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Mayfair Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,733,000. One Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 173.0% in the 2nd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,238,000 after buying an additional 3,251 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 38.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 314,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,698,000 after buying an additional 87,312 shares during the period. Finally, Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $370.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $179.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $381.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $366.20. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $381.67.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.